


That's what heroes do (a thorbruce week 2018 day 3 fic)

by thehumanoidprime



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Loss, M/M, Post Infinity War, Suicide Attempt Mention, bruce is not either, mops that supermarkets try to make you buy, thor is not ok, thorbruce day 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-06-20 22:31:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15543552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thehumanoidprime/pseuds/thehumanoidprime
Summary: Thor is back from grocery shopping but Bruce is no-where to be found.





	That's what heroes do (a thorbruce week 2018 day 3 fic)

**Author's Note:**

> thor is not ok.
> 
>  
> 
> warning : if you skipped the tags there are mentions of suicide/suicide attempts/death in this fic and if you don't feel okay with that feel free to click off. you don't have to read this if it makes you uncomfortable and i will take no offense.

Thor opened the door to his and Bruce’s apartment with his boot, his hands full of reusable grocery bags and the car keys in his mouth.

“I’ ‘ome!” He called, as he pushed through the doorway and dropped the keys onto the sideboard with a sharp clang.

There was no response, which he mentally noted as being odd, but continued to the kitchen so he could deposit all of his shopping. Bruce usually did not send Thor shopping because he had a habit of bringing back things he did not need because he was a hopeless alien who was enthralled by even the simplest of kitchen aids. They had several quick-clean pans and pop-up rubber bowls because the tiny television playing the ad over and over again had drawn the god over to the display and he had been unable to buy _only_ one.

He couldn’t help it. The man had described the pans as “revolutionary!” and there had been a group of middle aged women standing nearby and commenting on how they already owned one and how useful they had been. Thor certainly wasn’t one to miss a deal, and the women had seemed trustworthy and very helpful when he had asked them whether they were a worthwhile investment for someone learning to cook.

Thor quickly unpacked the several bags into the various locations around the kitchen, before tucking the bags into the cupboard near the door. At this point he was definitely suspicious because usually Bruce would hear him moving about and come and see what thing he had bought that he was not supposed to. He had been kind of excited to show him the new squee-Z mop that he had bought, and he picked it up to go find his husband and show him the new purchase.

He wondered upstairs (their apartment spanned two floors so that Bruce could have some workspace) and glanced through the open doorway. There was no sign of Bruce, but he must have been there as there were several cold mugs of coffee (that Thor tasted in turn) and a single almost lukewarm one. Thor turned out the light and trudged back downstairs, continuing his search.

He popped his head into the bedroom in case Bruce had (finally) decided to go to bed early and have a decent night’s rest, but as usual the room was untouched from how it had been left early that morning. The bed was made neatly, as Thor always left it, and the pyjamas folded at the foot of the bed had not been moved or worn.

Thor left the room and checked the bathrooms. All of them were empty, and he began to worry a little. He decided to check outside on the fire escape to see if Bruce had gone out to watch the sky and chill out like he sometimes did when he got stuck on a formula when he was working. Alas, the window was closed and the fire escape empty.  Now, Thor was beginning to panic.

There were no notes left on the fridge, which was the obvious place if Bruce had left to go get something, and the lack of Hulk-shaped holes in any of the walls implied that he hadn’t had an early switch-out with the Hulk, or a chaotic one. It was possible he had hulked out and just plain left the apartment, but it had been unlocked and Hulk wasn’t uncouth. He locked the door.

Thor was becoming less enthusiastic about showing Bruce the mop and more terrified that he would never see his husband again.

Thor ran into the lounge and saw a cup of coffee on the side table. He tested it and found it slighty warmer than the home-lab coffees but still cold. Bruce couldn’t have left the house then, because how else would the drink be here?

Thor rushed around the house, growing increasingly frantic as he entered and left each room with no sign of Bruce.

Where was he??

Thor could feel the static rising around his body, as he grew more and more panicked his body began to feel threatened. Thor didn’t have time to worry about frying electrics around the house, he needed to find his husband and he needed to find him now. He called Bruce’s name, frantically, but didn’t hear a reply.

Eventually Thor stopped running. He was being very loud, so either Bruce was unable to hear him, or was purposefully ignoring him. Thor made himself breathe slowly.

Where in the apartment could Bruce not hear him? Nowhere.

Thor decided to call out again to see if Bruce could hear him without the running around, but there was no response.

He looked around the hallway for inspiration.

His eyes passed over the keys and the door, the home phone, the shoes by the door... Wait! The phone!

Thor practically flew to the phone, dialing Bruce’s mobile number and listening for the telltale ring of led zepplin’s immigrant song that Bruce had set the home phone ringtone to.

Listening intently, he picked up faint screaming of the lyrics and placed the handset upside-down next to the holder so it would keep calling. He followed the sound into the lounge and towards the sofa. There was still no sign of Bruce. He glanced around the room, but couldn’t tell where it was coming from. He went back , placed the handset down so they didn’t get charged a fortune for a voice-message and paced around the lounge. There were large cupboards and a bookshelf in the lounge, as well as a few sofas and a large armchair that Loki liked to sit sideways on when they visited. Thor was getting very frustrated now. Why couldn’t he see Bruce? Was he blind? Was Bruce invisible?

He paused, and listened.

There was a faint sound of breathing.

He followed it to the sofa next to the bookcase. There was no-one on the sofa, or in the cupboard. Thor lifted the sofa gently, in case Bruce was behind it. There wasn’t, but there was Bruce’s phone. He leant forward to pick up the phone, still holding the sofa in his other hand.

“Bruce!” He called, spotting the man, finally.

He threw the sofa across the room in joy, and flung himself at the sleeping man hidden behind the bookshelf.

Startled, Bruce woke up and caught Thor, who had knocked him into the wall by mistake and given him a large electric shock from all of the built-up static from his panic.

“Bruce!” Thor sobbed, holding onto the man with an iron grip.

“Hey honey! What’s wrong?” Bruce asked, looking at the tears streaming down his husband’s eyes and the state of the lounge.

“I got back and I had this mop and I wanted to show you but you didn’t come into the kitchen and then you weren’t in the lab and I couldn’t find you so I called but you didn’t answer so I used the phone but I couldn’t find you and I got really scared because I couldn’t and then- ” Thor rambled, sniffling as he spoke through his tears.

He tried to keep speaking, but every time he tried his voice just squeaked and he found himself sobbing violently.

Bruce held him, and stroked his hair as he leant into his husband’s touch.

“I’m here.” Bruce soothed, softly.

“You’re here.” Thor repeated, sniffling loudly.

“I’m here. I never went anywhere. I could never leave.” Bruce continued.

Thor pulled out of the hug and gave Bruce a wobbly smile, before continuing to cry.

“I thought- It was like- everyone else was-” Thor tried to say, but failed to.

“Thor,” Bruce whispered, softly as he held him tighter, leaning against him.

“Everyone disappeared and you were dead and then not dead and then Thanos and the dust and Loki, and mother and father, and you, all dead and me alone and no-one and the forge and the star and almost dying and-”

Thor was becoming very static and his eyes were glowing faintly. Bruce quickly shushed him and kissed his forehead gently.

“I wanted it to kill me.” Thor gasped, air refusing to enter his lungs. “I thought I lost everything and I already lost it all and I thought I lost you and I wanted to not survive that star and oh gods I’m sorry I’m such a mess! I’m sorry I’m crying and I’m sorry I knocked over the sofa and gave you a shock and woke you up-”

“Thor!” Bruce called, sharply.

He stopped and looked up at Bruce, gasping for air like a fish out of water.

“Breathe.” Bruce said, softer this time.

Thor listened and took a deep breath, and then another.

“I couldn’t find you.” Thor breathed. “It felt like I never would.”

Bruce leaned into his husband’s grip and held him tighter.

“It’s not like before. Thanos is never coming back and Loki is fine. I’m fine. I’m here.” Bruce soothed, before pulling away slowly from Thor’s grip so he could look at him.

Bruce wiped away his tears gently and leant in to kiss him.

“You’re okay.” Bruce promised. “You’re safe here.”

“Sorry.” Thor said, voice cracking.

“Oh honey, I’m sorry I scared you.” Bruce apologised, voice wavering.

Bruce sniffed the tears back out of his eyes and kissed Thor again, holding his face gently.

“I am never going anywhere.” He told Thor, with honest eyes.“And, if I ever do, I am always- and I mean always- going to come back.”

Thor smiled at Bruce and leant his head into his husband’s chest and breathed slowly. Bruce held him as he calmed down, and gently rubbed his back.

After a while, Thor sighed wearily and pulled back. He stood up and offered Bruce his hand. Bruce took it, and let Thor pull him up off the ground.

“Bruce. Dearest. I just have to ask you, why were you sleeping behind the bookshelf?” Thor asked.

“It looked cosy. I just kinda, crawled back there because it was dark and safe and I guess I must have been so asleep I didn’t hear you come in. Or , you know, yeet the sofa across the room.” Bruce answered, rubbing his neck awkwardly.

“I can’t believe I’m married to you.” Thor beamed, smiling at his husband through tired eyes that glowed with the light of the gods and had faced the strength of a star head on.

“I’m sorry I scared you.” Bruce said, again.

“You didn’t mean to.” Thor added, holding Bruce’s hand tight.

Bruce suddenly glanced at a blue plastic stick in the middle of the lounge floor. Thor followed his gaze and rushed to grab it, pulling Bruce with him.

“Ah, I was going to show you this! It’s a mop!” He cried, holding the handle triumphantly.

“Wait, where’s the rest of it?” Bruce asked, confused.

Thor glanced at the empty handle again, and handed it to Bruce, who did not know what to do with it.

Thor searched the room but was unable to find the mop head.  He began to crackle with static, and Bruce sensed he was close to having another breakdown.

“Hey, honey. You can show me tomorrow if you like. How about we go to bed now, and rest up?” Bruce suggested, walking towards the slumping god.

“Thor? Honey?” He asked, reaching out to touch his shoulder gently. He hissed as he got a sharp electric shock from Thor, and the man seemed to jolt out of a trance and quickly apologised.

Bruce, sensing Thor wasn’t really in a mood for showing him the mop anymore, placed the handle on the sofa and tugged his husband towards their bedroom.

Thor changed slowly and clumsily into his pyjama bottoms, and Bruce clapped the blinds down and the lights off. He curled up into the bed beside Thor, and held out his arms.

Thor shuffled towards and curled into Bruce, his face in Bruce’s chest and his strong arms feeling weak around his husband. Bruce held him tightly, and listened as he slowly fell asleep, feeling safe and content with Bruce next to him once again.

As he fell asleep, Thor muttered something Bruce would never forget.

“You’re my reason to keep living, Bruce. You’re the reason I survived that blast.”

As Bruce felt his eyes droop and close, and his own breathing sync with Thor’s he realised there was a lot they needed to talk about. Thanos’ attack had done far more damage to both of them than they liked to admit, and Thor’s panic attack was just more proof that they needed to tell each other exactly what happened rather than the “I made an axe” and “I couldn’t hulk out” they had said apon their reunion in Wakanda.

It was a lot to unpack, but together they could do this, and together they would be able to relive those dark corners of their mind. Together, they were unstoppable. Together, they were anchors and roots and guiding stars. They would comfort each other, and move on. Because, that’s what heroes do.

 

**Author's Note:**

> this is rather different from my usual domestic fluff but i hope people liked it


End file.
